BBS 3: Beauty and the Beast
by Awen Sofer
Summary: Ichigo Kurosaki-a gorgeous, mysterious man who lives in solitude in a remote mansion. Behind the beauty lies the beast and that is why he hides from the world. He holds a murderous demon inside that he can't control. Beasts sometimes lie deep within the most unlikely beauties.
1. Chapter 1

This is the third in the series of Bleach Bedtime Stories, stories based on children's bedtime stories and given a very adult twist. This story is full of sex, violence, and darkness just like the main character, Hichigo. If you don't like any of these three elements, don't waste your time reading this story. There will only be two other chapters since these are simply overly long short stories. Hope you like the newest installment.

* * *

><p>Ichigo sat in his study, alone as always. But that was his choice. Actually, it was a choice that had been made for him by circumstances beyond his control. His dusty brown eyes focused on the flames in the fireplace. Snow was falling outside, but he could not see it since he sat in a windowless room. He had made the necessary preparations. All of the shutters on the windows in the rest of the house were closed and locked. Every door that led to the outside world had been bolted shut. He was not keeping someone out. Quite the opposite. He was keeping someone <em>in.<em> A slick sheen of sweat coated his face and palms despite the unmistakable chill that he could not remove from the drafty old mansion. It did not matter anyway. He never got sick and the thing inside of him would not let him die. The familiar burning began in his belly. It was coming. _He_ was coming. The demon within would claw his way to the surface tonight. He could only deny the creature buried inside of him for so long.

Ichigo could not remember when the beast had made himself known. He could no longer remember being without the darkness that lived inside of him. Why he had become this way was a pointless question he still asked himself. How he could rid himself of this intrinsic evil was a question he was afraid would never be answered. He had no idea how or why his psyche had become so splintered that he formed a completely separate personality. His second self was not just any simple defense mechanism to shield him from emotional pain. Hichigo was a separate entity entirely, so far removed from Ichigo himself he could barely believe he harbored such a creature. Hichigo: a vengeful, murderous being who killed for amusement rather than serving as a mere psychological barrier to protect his host.

A white-hot pain seared his guts making Ichigo feel as if he were being torn apart. Lurching forward, he fell out of the chair onto his knees. The agony seized his body again, sending him to all fours. He hugged his belly with one arm, pressing his forehead to the cold stones of the floor to seek some kind of relief from the discomfort that was literally eating him alive.

"No, please," he pleaded with the dark side that was slowing scratching his way out of Ichigo's core. "Please, don't do this. Don't come anymore. Leave me alone! Leave them alone!" he screamed, his voice taking on a liquid quality as if he were under water.

Hichigo had almost come.

Many times, more than he cared to remember, Ichigo had woken up doused in blood. His clothes had been soaked with the crimson liquid. His lightly tanned skin had borne the red stains that were beginning to turn brown as the blood dried. Worst of all was the metallic taste of their blood in his mouth. Only on limited occasions had he awakened next to the body of Hichigo's hapless prey. The innocent victim's dying screams and agonized wails of torture would play back in head like an endless horror movie as he had scrubbed and cleaned to rid his body of the sin Hichigo had committed. There was not enough soap in the world to clean his conscience. In the end, he knew it was him who had killed someone because he had not been able to control the evil that called his body home. His body would be sore and bruised, bearing the physical proof of the helpless person's losing battle for life. Just another reminder he did not need of the horrid misdeed.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Ichigo cried out, begging for an answer. For the first time ever, his question would receive a reply.

In a voice that was not his own but came from deep inside of him nonetheless, he heard the repulsive explanation he would never be allowed to forget. In a deep, gravelly, gurgling voice straight from the pits of hell, he heard,"Don't lie to yourself anymore! I am you! I am acting on your deepest, darkest desires. I act on the thoughts and wishes you pretend not to have but hold deep in your heart wrapped and concealed with good intentions and pure, upstanding morals. I am doing what you won't allow yourself to do. This is your fault. You held onto these wishes so tightly that your fascination, your hunger, grew so immensely that you had to create me to act on them. Stop fooling yourself and allow me to take over. You are my king but you are weak, cowardly, and shameful. I cannot serve the one I don't respect. One day..." The voice paused, allowing Ichigo to marinate in the devastating words that had been spoken so far.

Ichigo panted, struggling for air and command of his own sensibilities. He was losing and he knew it. Staring at his hands in gape mouthed horror, he watched as he had many times before while Hichigo gradually took over. His fingernails turned black as a powdery white color like the snow outside crept up his arms destroying the healthy golden glow of his skin. Closing his eyes, he howled in agony as the blackness, the tarry black color of Hichigo's evil flooded his white sclera. The soft mahogany of his irises turned a harsh, burning yellow gold like the color of the flames he had been watching. He ran his hands through his spiky white hair that had formerly been a bright orange color. With a sinister laugh of victory, Hichigo rose to his feet to strip off the clothes his alter ego had been wearing. Being made of all that was corrupt and devoid of morals, frigid to the heart and bone without any glimmer of human compassion or mercy, the glacial temperature of the room did not bother the completely naked and exceedingly wicked being one iota. Just before he diminished Ichigo's consciousness entirely, he wanted to complete the depraved diatribe that he had paused earlier. He wanted to make that one last psychological push before overtaking his host. "One day, I will destroy you entirely. There will be no coming back for you. There will be only me."

"Wait! Noooo-" Ichigo's pathetic, outcry was ended abruptly by the demon who had fully surfaced.

A hollow, resounding banging surprised the newly arrived entity. What was that sound? Hichigo stood still, hearing only the crackling of the wood in the fireplace before the chord broke and sent sparks flying into the air. The knocking started again, reverberating down the vacuous hallway to the room where he stood alone and unclothed since he had just been rebirthed in a most literal sense. His frightening, beastly yet captivating eyes riveted on the closed door to the study.

"What is this I hear?" he asked himself before quoting one of his favorite horror stories. The story was an old, classic tale about a killer who was tormented and revisited by the ghost of one of his victims. In the end, it was not real; the ghost had only his guilty conscience gnawing at him mentally. The story amused him greatly because he himself had no such qualms and could not identify with the concept of guilt. _"...suddenly there came a tapping, as of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-Only this, and nothing more."*_

"Hello! Hello? Is anyone in there?" a female voice rang out, bouncing off the stone walls of the hallway before it slammed into his brain.

"A woman. How wonderful," he purred, growing rigid with arousal. He never would have expected an innocent lamb to lead herself to the slaughter by showing up on his doorstep.

"Excuse me! Hello? I'm so sorry to bother you!" she cried out without knocking on the door again. The heavy oak door made from a two hundred year old tree was probably hurting her delicate knuckles. "I lost my way in this snow storm. I know I should not have been traveling at night...yet I was...and well...please help me."

"Poor thing," Hichigo murmured, clicking his tongue. "Poor, poor lost little lamb. I must help her." He moved with deliberateness, enjoying the sensation of the chilled air on his recently acquired body. It never ceased to amaze him how good it felt to take over this body. His hands slid over the wonderfully muscles arms, down the bulging pectorals, and over each bump and crevice of the toned abdominal muscles. He was grateful to his host for maintaining such a strong body even if he did have a weak mind. Taking his time, feeling no need to rush whatsoever, he walked upstairs to his master's bedroom to get dressed. He first put on a white dressing gown before wrapping a dark gray kimono around his body and securing it with a black obi. After putting on white wool socks, he shuffled his way back down the stone stairs to the door. He pressed his ear to the front door to listen for the woman. There was no knocking and no calls for help. However, he could hear the soft sniffles and low wails of a completely despondent woman. It sounded as if she had given up entirely, forfeiting her life to elements. There would be no need for that. He would happily take her life away for her. His golden eyes glittered with jubilant villainy as his head filled with thoughts of the violently wonderful and physically disastrous calamity he planned to unleash on the woman waiting outside.

_And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming, And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted- nevermore!*_

* * *

><p>*Quotes from Edgar Allan Poe's <em>The Raven. <em>This is one of my favorite pieces of writing of all time. Not many people appreciate the subtle terror, the gut wrenching fear these flowery words can spark in a reader's heart.


	2. Chapter 2

Hichigo did not waste time looking at the woman before he took her into his arms in a bridal carry to bring her into the house. It was not as if he could see anything anyway. She had bundled herself up completely, even covering her face, to guard against the weather. Despite having dressed for the harsh elements, her body had endured all it could from the extreme conditions. At least the poor idiot had gone out prepared to stumble around in the disorienting blizzard. He took her to the study, the one room in the house that was warm due to the fire in the fireplace. He gently lay her down on the exquisite hand-woven Chinese rug to put her as close as possible to the heat source. He could not care less about the damage the antique rug would incur from the snow that was falling off of her clothes. After tossing another cord of wood on the dying fire, he poked around in the embers to stir the flames back to life to light the new wood. He also wanted to thaw out his half-frozen guest before she fell victim to hypothermia. He knelt beside her, deciding to start at the top to undress her. First he snatched off the fur cap complete with ear flaps then proceeded to carefully untwist the thick wool scarf that was a less than attractive dingy green color from around her head. Hair as white as the snow, just like his, stood out from her head in all directions giving her the appearance of a dandelion. Her hair was exceptionally short except for the front that covered her face down to her chin. Without bothering to push back the hair that was the texture of candy floss to see her face, he continued to undress her.

Hichigo pulled her hands free from the fur muff that she had stuffed them into so they would protected from the frigid temperature. He held her cold hands between his larger, warmer hands to impart his warmth to her. Although he was ice-cold on the inside, heat radiated from his body as if he were suffering from a constant a fever. Bringing her fingers closer to his face, he noticed that the skin under the short, chipped fingernails had turned a ghastly purple color. Opening his mouth, he breathed several puffs of hot air across her frozen fingers until the blood flowed back into the tips to give them a normal pink coloration. It was time to take off the rest of her clothes that were now soaked from the snow that had melted. A lecherous smile tilted his lips as he reached to push open the cloak that enveloped her body. His fingers glided down her chest, taking a detour to momentarily grope her firm breasts under the red sweater she was wearing. He supposed he did suffer from a perpetual fever of sorts: a burning desire that drove him to take what was not his, to torture and to kill, and to enjoy every second of it. He gently rolled her body toward him to remove the cloak completely. Tossing it carelessly to the side, he discharged a sigh of exasperation. Although she had dressed appropriately for the weather using many layers, it would be a pain in the ass to disrobe her. Oh, well, he would equate undressing her to unwrapping a present to make a game of it. His slim black nailed white fingers deftly snatched the thick crimson colored sweater over her head to see that more shirts would need to be removed. Once he had taken off everything down to her matronly white bra, he allowed his fingertips to slide over her smooth, silky skin to the button of her jeans. He peeled the jeans from her body, dragging the cream-colored thermal underwear with them. Each article of clothing was disposed of without a second thought as he flung them over his shoulder to land where it may on the floor. Sweat had formed on his forehead in fat round drops and was sliding down his back to soak his clothes. Once he had pared down her clothing to her bra and panties, he decided it was time to take his clothes off as well before he fainted from being overheated. His physical efforts to remove her clothes in addition to the blazing fire had heated him up more than he thought it would. He had only been concerned about warming up the cold, helpless little lamb lying on the floor. Removing everything except the thin, white cotton dressing gown, he slipped his arms out of the sleeves to roll it down to his waist.

Hichigo paused a moment to observe her body. Her white skin had warmed to a nice pleasant peach color. She was petite and curvy with an inviting roundness to her hips and thighs. His tongue licked over his lips as his fingers moved over her thighs on an upward exploration of her body. Her belly was slightly plump but firm to the touch. His hands once again groped the globes of her breasts that were just the right size for his palms to cup each one. When his fingers reached her chin, they brushed aside her overly long bangs that obscured her face from his view. He surprised himself when he inhaled sharply upon being startled by what he saw. An uncomfortable mixture of disgust and shock made his stomach quiver. Is that what people felt when they saw him for the first time? With his bizarre pale face and even more weird black and gold eyes, it was impossible for them not to have such an adverse reaction. He now understood how they felt; what it was like to have inability to control oneself upon seeing something truly shocking. Swallowing convulsively, not sure how to process this new emotion, he pushed the lengthy lock of white hair behind her ear so he could study her face thoroughly.

A wide scar bisected the right half of her face from her forehead to her chin. Small veins of shiny, pinkish silver scar tissue split from the main scar at random intervals to streak across her face to her hairline or toward her nose. One particularly extensive streak zigged to her top lip where the scar continued across both of her lips before zagging back toward her jaw where it ended. Poor thing. It appeared her encounter with him would not be her first meeting with a monster. His thumb and forefinger grasped her chin to turn her face so he could see the left side. There was a star-shaped scar in the middle of her cheek marring the otherwise unblemished skin. His fingers traced the starburst pattern encircling the round quarter sized disfigurement. He determined that something cylindrical had punctured her cheek. Unable and unwilling to stifle the urge to kiss the mark, he leaned forward to press his lips against the shockingly baby soft skin. It amazed him how the tissue of scars appeared to be so extremely delicate, possessing a grotesque beauty, with an extraordinarily glossy sheen and satiny texture. In reality, the repaired skin was far tougher and thicker than the tissue it had replaced.

"What happened to you?" Hichigo pondered aloud, stroking her face like a lover. A grin bearing the semblance of tenderness broke across his face when she whimpered and writhed from the slightly ticklish touch. He would be her lover - and a lot more. Perhaps even some things she did not want him to be. Lowering his lips close to hers, he allowed them to hover there until he could feel an almost magnetic pull beckoning him to kiss her. He pressed his lips to hers, keeping them still. To his great surprise, her lips moved under them before her hands pressed to his bare chest.

_What is happening to me?, _Mina wondered_. _Her head was too clouded for her to able to determine if she was dreaming. She moaned and squirmed, feeling the heaviness on her chest increase. It felt as if someone were lying on top of her. A gentle and enticing pressure moved across her lips. Her hands pushed harder against the rigid, immovable object that was lying on top of her. She could barely breathe. But she was warm. The cold that had settled into her body and had made her limbs numb was gone. She did remember wandering around in the snow, freezing and hopelessly lost in the dark forest. Why had she gone into the forest to begin with? That she could not remember. Finally, her lips were free so she opened her mouth to suck in a much needed breath of air.

Hichigo smiled down at her with dark glee as she panted for air beneath him. His fingertips stroked her star scarred cheek in hopes she would open her eyes. Not only did he want to see their color, he could not wait to see that initial infilling of terror and confusion that always came when people saw him for the first time.

Mina attempted to brush away the fluttering object that was caressing her cheek. She found it annoying. She only wanted to go back to sleep, to once again be falling into that bottomless abyss of unconsciousness to precariously float between life and death.

"Hmmmm," he murmured, sitting up from her body. He had never had such a reluctant victim before. This made him feel quite upset and excited all at once. Deciding to employ a different tactic to wake her up, he stood up to leave the room. Glancing down at her before walking away, he saw that she had begun to shiver. Picking up his discarded wool kimono, he lay the garment over her body. With a grateful sigh, she rolled on to her side while pulling the robe tighter around her body as if it were a blanket. He was beginning to think he had come across a very unique and special find with her. Somehow he knew she would be like nothing he had experienced before. Wearing a self-satisfied smirk on his face, he went upstairs to the master bedroom, his master's bedroom, to the bathroom. Turning on nothing but the hot water, he planned to fill the massive, old-fashioned claw foot bathtub with water for a pleasant bath that would also serve as a friendly wake up call to the sleepy woman. The tub was big enough for the two of them. Now, there was an enthralling idea. An intimate bath for two. _I've never done that before_, he thought to himself, dragging his fingers through the steaming water. He also thought it would be a good idea to build a fire in the fireplace of the master bedroom. Then he would not have to be in a hurry to dress the woman after their stimulating bath together. Once the preparations for the bath were made, he returned downstairs for the woman.

While her gracious host had been gone, Mina had awakened to find herself lying in front of a fire, half-naked on an expensive rug wrapped in a lavish winter kimono. Sitting up, she yawned and stretched as if waking up from a nap at a friend's house. She had no idea where she could be. Honestly, she did not care. Her body felt sore and achy all over. Massaging her fingers and toes to stimulate blood flow, she chastised herself for being out in the cold too long. As if it had been her choice. She had finally found an escape route, and she had taken it. Beggar's couldn't be choosers, especially in matters of life and death. She was not sure what she was running from but she knew it had to bad for her to chance going out in a snowstorm. Glancing around her, she contemplated where she could possibly be. It seemed safe. Whoever had found her had taken great care to warm her up so she would not die from hypothermia. A flash of memory hit her brain like a bolt of lightning. It was a quick, almost indiscernible split second image that popped up in her mind so vividly it was as if she was seeing it in front of her face. She gasped and covered her tightly closed eyes with her hands as if that would keep her from seeing the picture again should it decide to return. There had been a knife, the blade long and shiny, razor-sharp and deadly, held in her hand. The weak light of dawn had glinted menacingly off of the hard edge before she brought the blade down with all of her might. Into what? Or who? Whatever had happened, it could not have been good. She opened her eyes slowly to look at her hands. There was no blood on them, but she had surely expected it to be there. An agonizing pain slammed into her skull as if she had been hit in the head with a blunt object. She pressed her fists to her temples, gritting her teeth together to ride out the horrid torrent of pain. Once the torment abated, she sat in the middle of the floor, shaking and sweating. She heard a low whimpering sound like a frightened puppy. The disconcerting revelation came to her that it was her making the pathetic noise. Pulling the kimono around her mostly naked body, she struggled to stand. Her legs were unsteady and threatened to buckle so she launched herself in the direction of the chair in case she should fall. She fell into the wing-back chair covered in wine colored velvet, sinking into the fluffy cushion as if it were a cloud. Had she stumbled upon Dracula's winter home in this forest? She snorted in her attempt to stifle her inappropriate laughter. Glancing around at the floor to ceiling bookshelves lining every wall, she watched the shadows that danced and swayed across the spines of the thousands of books. Her own spine stiffened when the door opened behind her. Actually, she had felt the cool rush of air caused by it opening rather than hearing a sound. She found it odd and strangely comical that there had been no loud, creepy squeak. No man bearing sharp fangs and wearing a cape swept inside the room either. She was almost disappointed. Her overactive imagination had a way of amusing her at the most ridiculous times. Of course, she had always handled fear differently than other people. At the moment, she was not frightened or the least bit anxious, just curious and wildly entertained. The unknown had never given her reason to fear. In her life, the angels she had known were far more terrifying to her than any devil she didn't.

Hichigo had felt every muscle in his body grow tense when he saw the empty space on the floor. His stomach had clenched with such intensity it made him feel nauseous. Rushing forward, he caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye. She was placidly sitting in the chair as if she were an invited guest. He turned to look at her, amazed to see that she was staring at him blatant curiosity. No disdain or fear; just wide-eyed fascination. Did she think it was Halloween and this was a haunted house? Her left eye was focused intently on him. It was a striking gold color that matched the color of his irises. Kneeling in front of the chair, he extended his hand forward slowly. When she did not move or turn away from him, he used his fingertips to push aside the lengthy hair that obscured her eyes. Her right eye was milky and black, like a black pearl had been set in socket to replace her eye. There was no white sclera visible at all. He concluded she must be blind in that eye. Whatever had scarred her had taken her sight as well.

"What?" she asked, her cheeks flooding with a deep shade of crimson. Her cheeks would have matched her sweater if she had been wearing it. She had grown uncomfortable under his direct scrutiny. Lowering her eyes, she stared at her fingers at that were twisting together nervously in her lap. Leaning away from him, she pulled her hair out of fingers so it would drop back down to cover her dead eye.

"Are you afraid of me?" Hichigo inquired, already sure her answer would be no.

Mina hesitantly rolled her visible eye upward to meet his. His voice had been a freakish, gurgling sound as if he were gargling while speaking. She took the time to fully examine his appearance which could be described as a bit unusual skirting the edges of macabre. But then, who was she to judge someone's appearance so harshly when she resembled Frankenstein's monster. His hair was white like hers. That was not so strange. The fact his skin was the same pure white color as his hair was, however, extremely abnormal. His eyes were remarkable and ghastly at once with their midnight black sclera and glowing golden irises. Attraction and revulsion swirled inside of her in a bewildering mix that made her stomach cramp and her chest tighten. She did not know whether she wanted to continue staring at him in his strange awful beauty or recoil in dread.

"I'm not afraid of you," she answered finally after finding her voice. She held her breath as he leaned close to her, his lips nearing hers.

"Do I disgust you?" He backed away so he could hold her gaze to determine her true emotions.

"No." Her golden eye did not waver as she stared at him.

"Do you want to run away?"

"No." She decided it was her turn to ask a question. Inclining herself toward him ever so slightly, she lay her fingers against the flawless snow-white skin on his chest over his heart. She felt his heart begin to beat faster beneath her fingertips. "Are you afraid of me? Aren't I hideous to you?"

Hichigo smiled. "What is your name?" he questioned her, tracing her jawline. He noticed his fingers were shaking and immediately jerked his hand away. What was happening to him?

"Mina," she answered, lowering her eyes again. She turned her head because she could no longer bear to look at him. The conflicting emotions inside of her were just too much for her to grasp at this time. Weariness swept over her, and her head ached. She did not want to feel like anything except a nice, comfortable numbness all over along the ability to observe the world passing by her as if she were looking through someone else's eyes. "What is your name?"

"Hichigo. You can call me master," he informed her as his smile transformed into an arrogant smirk.

"I will not," she responded emphatically, turning her eye that blazed with anger on him.

Perhaps he had pushed it a bit far on that one. He would be her master, and Ichigo's, soon enough so it would not be necessary to declare it in such a vain manner. Standing up straight, he grabbed a fist full of his kimono that she was bundled in to jerk her out of the chair to her feet.

Mina instantly untangled herself from the material, leaving him standing there clutching nothing but the robe. She was quickly reminded that she wearing practically nothing as his eyes traveled the length of her body from her head to her toes and back up again. "I can move just fine by myself. Where would you like for me to go?"

"Hmph," Hichigo snorted, his lips twisting into a soundless snarl. Helpless little lamb? Obviously not. "Follow me. I ran a bath for you."

Mina obediently followed the man. Not because he had ordered her to do so but because a bath sounded heavenly. She was not sure how long she had been wandering around in the forest or for that matter the last time she had bathed. She could not remember much of anything about the last few days. Her eyes fixed themselves on his bare back, watching the defined muscles move fluidly under his excessively pale skin with each graceful step he took. She willingly followed him through the bedroom that contained a huge bed and nothing more. A fire emitted an inviting glow while imparting a comfortable warmth throughout the room. Next came the bathroom where a hundred or more candles illuminated the interior. She could see the steam rising from the water in the elegant antique tub. Without caring a single bit that the man was still in the room with her, she reached behind her to unhook her bra. Pushing down her panties, she kicked them off hurriedly. Without taking the time to be ladylike or refined, she flipped over the edge of the tub sending a wave of water over on to the flat and shiny stone floor. She immersed herself fully in the water, sinking beneath the surface to allow it to cover her entirely. It was peaceful under the water. She floated slightly and seemed temporarily disconnected from reality itself. Unfortunately, reality had a way of crashing in on her in the most irritating ways. She felt a pair of arms thrust themselves beneath her, lifting her above the water. Falling forward, she found herself lying on the man's chest. He had taken it upon himself to be her bathing companion. She glared at him, delving deeply into his amazing eyes that seemed to have a luminescence of their own.

"Aren't you afraid? Don't I terrify you?" he asked her again, pushing his fingers through her short hair that was plastered to her head.

"No," she answered somewhat truthfully. "No more than I frighten you."

"You don't frighten me," he chuckled, tracing the scar down the right side of her face. "You fascinate me."

"Oh?"

"Yes."

Mina's eyes moved down the haughty angle of his thin nose. Beneath that nose were a pair of lips that were colorless but perfectly formed, just right for a kiss. Her eyes studied each glimmering droplet of water of that had adhered to his lower lip that was full and slightly pouty. Easing forward, she slid her tongue between her lips to lick off each one of those small droplets of water. A sound that was as arousing as it was fear inducing rumbled from his throat. She caught his lower lip between hers, sucking lightly. Her body shuddered from the peculiar thrill that surged deep inside of her when he made that bizarre gurgling groan again.

Hichigo pressed his hand to her cheek, bringing her lips against his for a kiss. His lips parted and hers followed giving him entrance to her mouth. He moaned with appreciation as his tongue slid across hers and her body mimicked the undulating movement on top of him. Her nipples grazed his chest and her belly slid across his very stimulated manhood. He had been prepared to take her by force. As a matter of fact he preferred it. Until this happened. Never before had a woman responded to him in such a way. Not only was she willing to accept him, she seemed to want him with an unexpected ferocity no woman had ever exhibited.

Mina complied with silence as his slender, powerful fingers bit into the flesh of her shoulders to turn her away from him. She curled her knees under her, preparing to exit the tub. When his large hand flattened on the top of her head to keep her seated, she sighed noisily with agitation wondering what he was going to do to her next. A sweet, flowery scent filled the air. Turning her neck so she could look over her shoulder, she could see he was pouring a clear viscous liquid from a pretty pink glass bottle into his hand. The soap smelled like cherry blossoms. Who would have guessed a man like him would have such luxurious feminine items. Certainly not her, but seeing was believing. She closed her eyes and hummed with delight when his fingers buried themselves into her hair, massaging her scalp. Under normal circumstances, being bathed like a child would have infuriated her. These were anything but normal circumstances. She had no idea what this man planned to do with her, but she felt no fear from her uncertain future that could possibly be brief and grim. His nimble fingers moved over her body, cleansing her, tending to her as if he were preparing her for something. When his soapy hands glided over her breasts, cupping them and squeezing them to rub the bubbles around, she leaned back against his chest. Her body and mind was weakening, her senses wanting to slip away into nothingness. Melting into the man holding her, her body limp and pliable in his arms, she found herself totally at his will. For the first time, she experienced the crawling sensation of fear begin to wind its way through her body.

"Relax. I'll take my time," Hichigo cooed into her ear. "There is no rush here."

"Rush for what?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Something about the unnatural liquid quality of his voice soothed her at this moment. She wanted him to speak to her again.

"Anything. Time has no meaning. Only desire," he said, fondling her breasts again. "Passion. Want. Need." One of his hands slid down her belly causing a swell of heat to rise within her before surging downward in the same direction of his hand. "Hunger to be sated." His fingers pushed between the lips that led to the most intimate part of her. "We can take what we want from each other, only giving what we see fit in return."

"What kinds of things do you want? What do you want to take from me?" she inquired, gasping when his slim fingers slid into her body. "Everything?" A fuzziness invaded her head, making it difficult to think. She felt as if she were going to faint. His fingers grazed the super sensitive little projection making her arch her back to press herself into his hand.

"I want to take everything from you. There is one thing in particular I desire the most." He rubbed harder while thrusting his fingers deeper inside of her until she was trembling and squirming in his arms.

"Wh-what c-could that be?" she stammered, her hands gripping his thighs that were enclosing her waist. She felt his free arm encircling her throat while he continued to push her closer to an inevitable orgasm with his hand between her legs. He gradually tightened his arm around her neck, inhibiting her ability to breathe. She gasped for air, moving her body more to free herself to get the air her lungs required than in response to the oncoming orgasm. The muscle of his forearm flexed to close off her airway entirely as she quaked and twitched from complete ecstasy as he pushed her beyond her limit. Just as she was losing her grip on consciousness, he whispered two last words to her to answer her question.

"Your life."


	3. Chapter 3

When Hichigo said he wanted to take her life, murder had not been his intention. Well, maybe homicide had been on his mind at first, but then he decided to seek something far more unpleasant and emotionally poisonous that would equate to a living death. He meant to steal her very soul by taking away what it meant to be an autonomous human being. His desire was to make her an extension of himself; not just by making her his but by making her a part of him so she could not live without him. Then he would no longer have to be alone in his pain of being dependent on his master, Ichigo, for his survival. Something had happened to him that he had never thought possible. In Mina, he believed he had found his soul mate, someone who could truly understand him. Therefore, he wanted to keep her forever.

Mina was aware that the chains with which he was binding her were growing longer and stronger everyday. Not literal chains as the ones used in masochism and bondage but the chains that bind the heart and mind to link her to him in a more enduring way. Chains fashioned by manipulating emotions, artfully strumming the heartstrings, were far more insidious and nearly indestructible. Every day she felt herself slipping a little further down that precarious slope to becoming hopelessly emotionally entangled with him. For reasons she could not explain or understand, she did not want to be set free.

Hichigo created strong links in the chain using charming, poetic phrases along with great sex and a lot of it. He was working on her mind on a chemical level as well by using her own body against her. Each magnificent orgasm she experienced released oxytocin which has been referred to as the 'love drug.' The release of this hormone promotes the attachment of a woman to her partner. Violence tempered with kindness forged other links. On occasion he would inject a bit of violence in the form of a forceful slap on the ass or clawing her back, mostly during sex, to remind her he was truly the boss. Although she would be reluctant to admit it, intermittent shows of extreme force such as choking her or spanking her behind until it was red and sore had a tendency to heighten her pleasure rather than detract from it. With him she did not feel ashamed or fearful to explore her more fierce compulsions. Not once did he ever cut her or stab her which was something that had obviously happened to her many times before. Her memories would sometimes come back to her in brief flashes of single moments in time, but nothing significant that really made sense to her.

Hichigo had made her dependent upon him for even the most basic necessities. She ate at the times he appointed as mealtimes. Not only did he dictate when she could eat, he determined what she would eat. To further establish his unspoken absolute rule over her, she could only eat by allowing him to feed her by his very own hand. At first she had stubbornly resisted this method of receiving her nourishment. After going without a few meals, hunger overruled pride.

Hichigo did extend certain kindnesses to her, all of which worked to make his grasp on her that much more secure. He permitted her to spend days reading books in the study to pass the time when they weren't sleeping or having mind-blowing sex. Mina was also allowed to wander around the manor at her discretion. No room was off-limits to her explorations. Unfortunately, most were empty rooms or rooms full of dusty antiques and unused furniture. Since Ichigo/Hichigo were the only inhabitants, there were no hidden secrets beyond the man(men) who lived there.

Bath times were intimate encounters that Hichigo and Mina enjoyed equally. Sometimes he joined her in the bath; other times he merely sat on a stool at the edge of the tub to clean her body. He delighted in taking care of her, doting on her while he added yet another link in the chains to keep her bound to him mind, body, and soul. He surmised the treatment she had endured before him had been literal torture as evidenced by the scars on her face. Upon further exploration of her body, he had found the marks of many tiny cuts and small burns located on the innermost and tenderest parts of her thighs and upper arms. Restraints formed out of fear and pain could be powerful but seemed to be more brittle and easily destroyed than the connection he was making with her. His time to secure his hold on her was growing short. He was weakening as his master was fighting to regain control of this body. Any day now, Ichigo would return. He hoped the bearer of goodness and justice would not destroy all of his hard work in trapping Mina in the cage that he had carefully constructed.

~...~

Mina was awakened by the most awful sound. It sounded something like a chainsaw operating under the water. To her sudden horror and infinite embarrassment, she realized the sound was coming from her. She had been snoring. Groaning and wriggling around a bit, she felt something slimy under her cheek. Ewww! She had been drooling too. How gross. Grabbing a handful of the silky cotton sheet to wipe away the offensive mess, she realized she had not been slobbering on her pillow. Her hand moved over an unyielding pectoral muscle that was covered in her drool. Oh, dear. She jerked up the sheet to wipe away the grossness before he awoke. Once the evidence of sleeping with her mouth open had been removed, her fingers drifted over the supple, hairless skin that was tanned a shade darker than hers. Tanned? She instantly sat up straight to look at the man sleeping beside her. Who was this guy with the hair the color of the sun setting in autumn and skin with a fabulous golden tan? Where had Hichigo gone? Her eyes followed the angle of this man's sharp nose, skirting over all of his angular facial features that were softened to a cherubic appearance by sleep. He looked familiar but then again...not familiar. She was confused. Her fingers reached out to touch his spiky orange hair that was extraordinarily fluffy and soft like the down of a baby chick. His lips were the color of the blossoms on a cherry tree. He was definitely handsome verging on prettiness despite all of his manly attributes. Speaking of manly attributes...she lifted the covers to take a peek at the proof of his manhood. This was not the same man she had gone to bed with last night - or was it? What identified him as a male certainly looked familiar. But how could this be the same man? Fascinated and curious, she lay on her side beside the human chameleon, propping on her elbow to study him more. Her fingers followed every line and curve of his face, tracing the prominent tendons of his neck down to his collar bones. This guy must really be exhausted to not be disturbed by her unrestrained exploration. A smirk tilted her lips when she remembered that he had a good reason to be tired after all of their physical exertion last night. Her hand slid lower and lower still until her fingers carefully grasped his manhood. She squeezed slightly, making him moan and shift beside her. Although his hardness was merely an uncomfortable way that all men greeted the morning, that fact did not deter her from being a lustful opportunist. She pushed him over onto his back, straddling his hips. After guiding him inside of her, she rocked her hips to take advantage of the poor, unconscious man.

Ichigo did not often have sexually explicit dreams but this one was so hyper-realistic he could feel it. With shocking clarity, alertness crashed in to rip him from that wonderful state between sleep and wakefulness. His eyes popped open to see a woman sitting on top of him. He could not see her face well because half of it was covered by her white hair that hung down to her chin. The back of her hair was so short he would have guessed she was a boy if he had seen her from the back. Watching her sizable breasts bouncing up and down with each movement on top of him, he was reminded he would have committed a grievous assumption because she was undoubtably a woman. Although he wanted to stop this woman from having sex with him, simply because he viewed it as not being 'right,' he could not because he had been pushed past a certain point in pleasure. Dismayed due to his lack of ability to physically react, he gazed at her in open mouthed astonishment. He could no longer say she was taking advantage of him because he had begun to savor the incredible sensations of ecstasy she was giving him - and herself. Damn that, Hichigo. The woman cried out in pleasure, rotating her hips in circles as she ground herself into his body. Oh, and damn this woman. His fingers moved to her hips to hold her against him as his hips pushed up into her. He could not stop his body from reacting to her in a positive manner. Her body, warm, wet, and tight around him, felt great. It had been a long time see he had experienced sex with a woman. Hichigo had been selfish in claiming all of those sexual encounters for his own. His fingers burrowed into her curvaceous hips to pull her into him with greater force to raise the bliss they were both experiencing.

"Tell me your name," she ordered him.

"Wh-what?" Ichigo stammered, a whimpering groan tearing from his lips as her body contracted around him.

"Tell me your name, please," she begged, opening her eyes to look down at him. She found herself mesmerized by the most gorgeous pair of burnished chestnut eyes. He was so different. How could this be the same man? But it wasn't. Not really. Two completely different men forced to share a single body: a living, breathing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. "I only know _his_ name. Tell me _your_ name. I want to know what name I should scream when I come."

It came as no surprise to him that Hichigo had not divulged the duality of his existence to this woman. Never before had one remained alive long enough for it to become necessary. Ichigo opened his mouth to say his name but found it difficult to form the word as he looked into her yellow gold eye that was visible. Her eye reminded him of the color of Hichigo's eyes. Finally finding his voice, just as a surge of orgasmic bliss seized his body, he gasped, "Ichigo."

"Oh, Ichigo!" she exclaimed, giving in to the wave of pleasure that crashed into her. She closed her eyes to allow the euphoria to drench her senses , soaking her body with a warm feeling from head to toe. Flopping onto her back, she sighed with contentment. She lazily opened one eye to watch the handsome orange haired man rise from the bed. He seemed angry and embarrassed and acted as if he could not get away from her fast enough. But why? Had she done something wrong? Biting her lower lip, she pulled the cover around her body as she curled into a tight little ball. Shame tainted what should have been the comfortable afterglow of sex. She missed having Hichigo's arms around her, his lips brushing across her forehead as they relished the warm, fuzzy sensations that would surge through their bodies after great sex.

Ichigo snatched his robe from the bedpost to cover his body. He shivered as guilt replaced the tranquil warmth of the post orgasmic high. Although he knew a shower could never wash away this feeling of shame, he rushed to the bathroom to boil himself in the hottest shower possible anyway. At least he had not awakened to being covered in blood or worse yet lying next to a corpse. This time he awakened to having sex with a woman. He had to admit that this was a first time experience. As far as his awakenings after being Hichigo went, it was really not a bad experience at all. She seemed to be enjoying herself greatly. At least his alter ego had not raped her. The fact he had not murdered her was simply astounding. He wondered why Hichigo had allowed her to live. His hand moved down his abdomen to grasp his half erect manhood. As he washed himself, a lascivious grin tilted his lips. It had felt really good to be inside of that woman. No, he could not think that way. He immediately flipped the smile into a deep frown. He could not permit himself to revel in any of Hichigo's misdeeds or their consequences - even if this result was actually a positive one. The question plaguing his mind at the moment was what should he do with this woman. There was a pulse in the pit of his stomach and rush of blood flowed downward.

"Not that, stupid," he chastised himself through gritted teeth. If he sent her away, Hichigo would only go looking for her. He might kill her once he found her thinking she had run away from him. Although judging from recent events, this woman had no desire whatsoever to leave. Quite the contrary actually. He pressed his throbbing forehead against the tiles of the wall that still held a small bit of coolness despite the steaming hot water beating down on him and splashing the walls. Letting her stay would not be a good idea - for him or for her. He had come here to be alone, to cut himself and the beast within off from contact with the world. Besides, Hichigo would grow tired of her and kill her eventually. He would be saving her life if he told her to leave. But would she go?

~...~

After emerging from his attempt at ridding himself of remorse in the shower, Ichigo had found the woman in the study reading a book. Pulling up another wing back chair upholstered in crimson velvet, he sat down across from her to study this stranger who had become a part of his home in his absence. What had she become to Hichigo? He was surprised when she placidly continued to read her book as if he were not even in the room. Only when he reached out to touch her did she finally acknowledge his presence. His fingers pushed aside the long hair covering her face to see her. Startled, he gasped sharply and loudly before recoiling from her. His humiliation increased when the womanly sighed noisily before closing the book gently to set it on the small table beside the chair. It disturbed him that she was accustomed to this reaction. It also made him feel that much more chagrined for reacting so immaturely. But those scars...

"Ask anything you want," she said, leveling her one good eye on him.

Ichigo gulped, trying not to the think about the milky black orb hidden under her white hair. She might have been a striking beauty once, but someone had taken that away from her in the cruelest of ways. He could tell the scars were old so at least he, being an extension of Hichigo who was capable of that sort of thing, had not tortured her to cause them. "What happened to you? And why are you here?"

"I'm not sure. I don't know who did this to me or why. I believe I was running from that person and found your hideaway," she explained as best as she could since she was not sure of the details herself.

"Has he hurt you? Hichigo, I mean," he added to clarify who he was referring to in his question.

"No. He's been nothing but kind to me," she answered, her voice taking on a defensive tone on Hichigo's behalf. "He's treated me like a queen."

A sardonic grin lifted Ichigo's lips. Her choice of words was uncanny considering Hichigo called him King despite doing so out of disrespect and spite. "What is your name?"

"Mina," she replied flatly.

"Mina, you should leave. You don't belong here," he informed her, noticing her eyebrows draw together and her lips turn downward in fury.

"You're wrong," she muttered, her voice sounding something like a rumbling growl. "I do belong here. With him."

Ichigo pressed himself back into his chair. This woman was almost as frightening as Hichigo. No wonder the man had decided to keep her around; he had finally met his match. Ichigo tightened his hands into fists as he leaned forward to glare at the woman sitting across from him. "You must leave."

"I will not." She folded her arms under breasts, glaring at him with enough ire in her golden eye that he could feel his skin growing hot.

Ichigo sighed as his frustration began to rise. Convincing her that it was in her best interests to leave was going to be more difficult than he had thought.

~...~

"No," the irritating woman stubbornly proclaimed. She crossed her arms and legs simultaneously while turning her face away from him. Through obvious verbal and nonverbal communication, she had told Ichigo, again, that she would not be leaving the manor.

Ichigo was beginning to understand Hichigo's need and willingness to commit heinous crimes. This woman had proven herself to be quite the pig-headed, unyielding nuisance who refused to listen to logic. To make matters worse, she had taken off the gray kimono robe she had been wearing in an attempt to offset her unwilling host in hopes he would stop his campaign to make her go away. Although he was about to burst into flames due to his overwhelming embarrassment, his rage assisted Ichigo with pushing past his discomfort of her immodesty to continue to argue with her as to why she should leave. In addition to denying his demand to vacate his home, Mina had steadfastly refused to get dressed. She had ignored each polite entreaty and continued to ignore him even when the gentle appeals for compliance became angry orders. Finally, he had snapped, throwing her over his shoulder to take her to the bedroom. He wrestled her to floor to sit on her back while he jammed her flailing limbs into a pair of his boxer shorts and a t-shirt. Thankfully, her nicely rounded edges filled out the clothes enough to keep them on her body. To his ever-growing discomfort (and erection), she actually appeared quite alluring in his underclothes. Not to be deterred from getting her out of his home, he immediately began asking her to leave all over again. Cordial entreaties became hostile threats all to no avail. The woman would not budge.

Ichigo had grown tired physically and mentally. He raked his hand through his hair in exasperation, turning away from her. His anger had simmered for hours, rising to a boil that threatened to overflow. What the hell had happened here? Had this woman actually fallen in love with Hichigo? He would not dare to say that the woman had fallen in love with the evil bastard because she seemed as incapable of love as the white wonder himself. Hopeless infatuation, yes. Consuming passion, yes. Frightening desires and freaky fetishes, oh hell yes. But love? No!

They were once again in the study, sitting facing each other in their chairs. Ichigo glared at the bizarre, scarred woman who was now shamelessly pouting. Mina. She had not given him a last name, just her first, claiming she could not recall her last name. She also claimed not to remember anything about who she was, where she came from, or why she was so marred. The most likely explanation was that her own mind was protecting her from further trauma by preventing her from remembering the ordeal she had suffered. Whatever it was, it had to have been like experiencing hell on earth for her. She might have been beautiful once, but all that remained was damaged exterior on an empty container. Maybe it was better this way for her, just to start her life over. But he would not let her do it here and certainly not with Hichigo. What kind of beast would she become then? The possibilities were too scary to even entertain. The last thing on earth he wanted to become was an incidental guardian forced to babysit a broken stranger who happened to tumble into his sanctuary. She was the intruder so why should he have to take care of her?

"No. I don't care what you say. You will leave," Ichigo stated decisively. He would take nothing less than compliance from this woman. Standing up from his chair, he strode confidently over to her to pull her up from her seat.

"Hey, wait, what are you - " Her words were interrupted by a scream of surprise and anger when he hefted her over his shoulder once more.

Mina was beginning to feel like a sack of potatoes. This was the second time on a matter of hours that this man had carelessly tossed her over his shoulder like so much baggage. It was obvious he wanted to get rid of her, but she was not here because of him. She wanted to stay here for Hichigo, and she would remain here until he returned.

"I'm taking you to the nearest village," he informed her, ignoring her fists that were beating his back as if he were a drum. It actually hurt. Her strength surprised him.

"No! I don't wanna go there!" she howled like a furious toddler. "I want to stay here!"

"I don't care. You're going. Trust me...it's for your own good," he announced with his best parental attitude to give levity to his words.

"How do you know what's good for me?" she whined with the petulance of a teenage girl with PMS.

"I don't," he admitted, pushing open the back door that led from the house to the stables. "But I know there's nothing good for you here."

"How can you say that?" she asked, her voice possessing only a marginal amount of whine this time.

Ichigo put her down on her feet in front him to stop her from bruising his back any further. He closed his eyes to avoid having to look at the grown woman who was still pouting like a child. Suddenly he could not breathe. Oh, no. He was coming. Dropping to his knees, his fingers clutched at his chest. His heart refused to beat momentarily while his blood ran cold.

Mina stood awestruck and a little terrified as she watched the color drain from Ichigo's body, starting from the tips of his orange spikes and moving downward. It was as if something were washing away his color...no, washing away _him_, Ichigo, entirely as if erasing him from existence. She backed away with a growing sense of dread as she watched the bizarre transformation occur before her very eyes. The incredible change evoked both horror and enchantment, horrifying her and thrilling her at the same time. She gasped when her back made contact with the wooden stable door behind her. Without a single thought of splinters, her body slowly slid down the door until she plopped limply onto the ground. Since she was now eye level to the man on all fours, her eyes met the luminescent yellow irises of the enigma a few feet away from her.

"Hello, my love," he gurgled happily, one corner of his mouth lifting into a menacing smirk. "Were you going somewhere?"

Mina cried out when he was suddenly in front of her, so close his hot breath was fanning across her lips while making goose-flesh prickle her skin. She did not like the accusatory tone of his voice nor did she like the hatred in his eyes. "No. I wasn't. He was making me leave. I didn't want to. I didn't want to leave you."

"Tch," he clicked disapprovingly, the seething anger drifting from his body in palpable currents. "Bastard."

Mina shifted uncomfortably as the tangible rage seeped into her body. Her pulse raced and her head began to pound. She could feel the unmistakable contempt the pale skin, golden eyed man had for his counterpart and rival. Before her mind could fully comprehend her actions, she slapped Hichigo - hard. Her hand stung from the brutal blow she had given him. His unrelenting loathing for Ichigo made no sense to her. "You shouldn't hate him so intensely. He's part of you. Or rather you're part of him." She could feel the heat of the blast of anger that ignited his yellow irises in their inky black surroundings. "He's a kind and gentle soul. He created you to harbor his malice, his terrible feelings and desires...all of the bad things about himself to preserve the goodness. You're an unnecessary and detestable part of him. No matter how much you hate him, it won't change the fact that he's your master."

Hichigo raised his hand to strike her. When she raised her chin, closing her eyes as she turned her face to him to accept the slap, he discovered he could not move. He found it impossible to hit her when she was so willing to accept it. She had been fully prepared to withstand the punishment for defending Ichigo. Gradually lowering his hand as his ire subsided, he touched her cheek. His forefinger traced the round scar that disfigured her there. "Why? Why would you defend him?"

"You're the one I want. However, you cannot exist separate from him," she said, seeing stubborn consternation flit through his eyes. "It's time you stopped lying to yourself. You will never live apart from him. He made you."

"Stop it," he hissed through his teeth. He seized the lengthy lock of hair covering her face, using it as a handle to roughly pull her to her feet as he stood up. "I should just kill you now and be done with it."

"So kill me," she invited him, averting her eyes from his. "What will you do then? You will be alone again, left to hunt for something else, someone else, to fill that constantly growing void inside of you."

"Shut up," Hichigo mumbled, releasing her hair. This woman was making him experience emotions he had never felt before. They were emotions he did not like. Fear, sorrow, and disbelief shattered his confidence and shook him to his core. She had made him encounter despair for the first time in his life. Everything she had said was true. Without Ichigo, he could not exist. If he lost her, he would lose everything. Fueled by a swift, unexpected explosion of anger, he grabbed her by the neck to slam her head into the stout wooden door. "What are you doing to me? Stop it. Stop it!" he yelled, hearing the tremor of fear in his voice.

Mina closed her eyes to make the blinding bursts of light that had erupted in her vision disappear. Instead of going away, they increased in intensity and number, continuing to explode like fireworks on the black backdrop of her eyelids. A pain blazed through her skull that was so agonizing it made her queasy. Her knees weakened, and she slumped lifelessly against the door behind her. She found it increasingly difficult to breathe as Hichigo's slender fingers tightened around her neck. Her breath was coming in choked gasps that tapered off into pitiful wheezes. He was killing her. An image appeared in her mind of a large man with huge hands holding her up while her feet dangled uselessly in the void below her while his thick, strong fingers clenched her neck. She could not see a clear picture of his face but could see the prominent veins and twisted, ropy muscles of his forearms. Her fingernails were sinking into his wrists, drawing blood that trickled down her arms in small, crooked crimson rivers. The blood dripped off of her elbows to splatter on the ground beneath her dangling feet. But he would not release her. Another scene immediately followed. One of those familiar muscular arms enclosed her shoulders while those powerful, murderous fingers carefully brought a spoonful of soup to her bluish lips that were set in the lily whiteness of her gaunt face.

_"Repeating past mistakes?" _questioned a disembodied female voice with a high-pitched tone and impish quality. _"Mina, Mina, you poor little fool," _the voice chided her scornfully. _"This is insanity. You do remember the definition for insanity, don't you? Why are you doing this to yourself all over again? Do you really think he's any different?" _

'_It's not like that. It's not like that at all!_' she screamed in her head to defend herself. She could not be held responsible for repeating the past if she could not remember it. The inner dialogue had distracted her from her present predicament until the pressure of Hichigo's lips on hers brought her attention back to him with startling swiftness. Her lips tingled as if they were being poked with a thousand miniscule needles. His breath entered her body, filling her chest and causing her to inhale with a fervency that made her lungs burn. Apparently she had lost consciousness, and possibly her life, briefly. She tore her lips from his, crying out in anguish and fear. Had he tried to kill her and succeeded even for a brief moment?

"You're alive," Hichigo whispered in her ear, relief evident in his voice. His lips covered hers, hesitating to make sure it was okay to kiss her instead of breathing into her. Once he was sure that she had fully regained consciousness, he kissed her while his hand clutched her breast through the shirt.

For the first time, Mina noticed the cold wind. Ichigo had been in such a hurry to whisk her away from here, to safety, he had not even allowed her to put on proper clothing. Considering the shocking swiftness with which Hichigo appeared, she suddenly understood why Ichigo had been so recklessly hasty. Lifting the handle of the door behind her, she fell backwards to land with an excruciating thud on the dirty wooden floor strewn with hay. Hichigo's body crushed hers, his maleness poking her in the thigh as she lay compliantly under him while his tongue performed a thorough investigation of her mouth. At least it was warm in the barn. The not so pleasant smells mixed with the very pleasant heat made her feel light-headed and dizzy. She felt her body being lifted and it felt like she was floating. An empty stall and a clean bed of hay awaited them. The sweet-smelling, dried grass poked her butt and back. But it did not matter. Soon all she could feel was the man on top of her, slamming his manhood into her again and again. A numb sensation encased her body, presumably brought on by emotional paralysis, so the harder he thrust into her the better. She clung to him, screaming his name as tears streamed from her eyes and soaked into her hair. Before the event was over, she was writhing beneath him shedding grateful tears as she showered his chest with kisses of gratitude. When they were both spent, their limbs reduced to wobbly gelatinous goo and their bellies and butts cramping from fierce humping, they lay in the hay unashamed and completely naked with their arms and legs entwined.

"So tell me," Hichigo said, his gurgling voice sounding very pleased and cocky after his brilliant performance. "Who's _your _master?"

'_No one, motherfucker!'_ she thought to herself, nuzzling his chest to hide the derisive grin on her face. With a soft voice and her best mock attitude of submissiveness, she said, "You are. You are my master."

* * *

><p>I apologize for any errors that I did not correct. It becomes difficult to find them after a while. Thanks for reading. Hope you liked it.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Ichigo awoke with a start to find himself in Mina's arms. For some reason, she was curled around the upper half of his body with his face pressed against her bare belly. She was naked as she was most of the time when he woke up with her. Her arms trailed down his back in an awkward embrace and her legs were pulled up between them with her shins resting against his abdomen. Judging from her position of virtually encompassing his upper half, it was if she had been protecting him from something. Had she once again acted as a buffer between him and Hichigo? She had developed yet another irritating habit: attempting to protect him from himself. He cautiously peeled her from his body so he could look at her. Lifting his hand to move her hair, he paused upon seeing the dark red lines that circled his wrists. Rope burns? How the hell did that happen? Had things gotten so out of hand with his alter ego that she had been forced to tie him up? That would be no surprise to him. A sigh of exasperation escaped him while he briefly inspected the red welts that still stung a bit before setting his attention back on Mina. Pushing the hair back from her face, he was relieved to see that there were not any bruises or cuts. Hichigo seemed to make it a point to stay away from her face. Perhaps even he could see that she had endured enough damage there and did not need any further scarring to her face. If only he felt the same way about the rest of her, particularly her emotions. Ichigo's sad brown eyes followed the path of his fingers that glided over her neck discovering the brownish green remnants of old bruises but no new ones. Searching lower, he found the most recent damage on her side. Following the shallow and narrow yet furiously red cut that lay diagonally across her ribcage, he rolled her over onto her belly to find more, many more, of the same cuts criss crossing all over her back. It appeared as if she had been whipped, and not with just any whip but a cat o' nine tails whip equipped with miniscule pieces of glass or metal attached to the ends. That bastard. He wrapped the sheet around her body to cover her wounds so he could hold her without causing her any undue discomfort.

"Oh, Mina," he whispered, pressing his lips against her forehead.

"Ichigo? What's wrong? Are you all right?" she mumbled, clutching the lapels of the robe he was wearing.

Ichigo nuzzled against her neck, kissing her skin just above her collarbone. He tightened his embrace as if he never wanted to let her go. He could not protect her, and he hated it. The only thing he hated more was that the person he could not protect her from was part of him. She had received a cruel beating and still had to be in pain yet she was more concerned for his well-being.

"Mina," he murmured, looking into her lovely golden eye that gazed at him steadily from between the strands of her snowy hair. It was heart breaking to see the concern for him in her eyes, filling him with so much sadness and remorse that made his chest ache. He had hurt her, but she had stayed. Why? Pressing his forehead to hers, he closed his eyes because he feared he would not be able to hold back the tears welling in them. "Why do you stay? Why do you allow him to do this to you? You know I can't stop him."

"And that's why I stay. For you," she replied, nudging his nose with hers. "I can't leave you alone...not with him. He would eat you alive, take over to become the dominant personality. I can't let that happen."

"Mina, why - " His words were cut off when she tenderly pressed her lips to his.

"I care about you both. I want to help you both become one again, melding your personalities into the one perfect human I know you can be."

"Perfect," he snorted derisively. "Not hardly."

"For lack of a better analogy, I see you as being like a coin. There are two very different sides to you, but there's still just one coin...and that's you, Ichigo. I know that there's you and there's Hichigo separately...yet, in the end, you're both part of the same person. Basically," she sighed noisily, head butting him gently with a smile on her face. "You two need to get your shit together and integrate into one seamless personality."

"Where did you come from?" he asked, smoothing her sleep mussed hair back from her face. He smiled when her expression twisted into one of complete bewilderment. "Only fate could have brought you to me. I needed someone like you. You're beautiful. Did you know that?"

Mina lowered her eyes from his. She could feel the heat of embarrassment rising to her cheeks. She wasn't stupid. She knew she wasn't beautiful. He was just an incredibly kind man. Her appearance was ghastly and shocking, having even startled and disgusted him the first time he saw her.

"You're heart makes you beautiful," he said, kissing her cheek. He could see the disbelief all over her face. The expression she wore called him a liar as clearly as if she had spoken the word. It stung his heart that she did not believe him because despite her scars, or maybe because of them, he thought she was so pretty. Her scars displayed her courage, her tenacity, her untamed spirit - that made her positively gorgeous.

Mina smiled. This poor, naive man had no idea what really lay within her heart. He was unaware that she could be just as cunning and barbaric as his other personality. She would not tell Ichigo what she had done to receive that terrible lashing as retribution. Her only hope was that he did not demand she explain the rope burns around his wrists because then she would have to confess both her and Hichigo's parts in the matter. The most simple explanation would begin by informing him that she and Hichigo had been playing a sex game. That fact would not be startling but the details to follow beginning with the act of her tying up Hichigo. It had taken quite some conniving to convince the man to allow her to tie him up, but she had a plan that she was determined to see through to the end. She had teased him mercilessly, bringing him to the brink of orgasm again and again but denying him that final release each time. Finally, she walked away leaving him tied to the bed and suffering from a horrendous case of blue balls. For hours, he howled like a pitiful wounded animal, being left to marinate in physical torment. During his torture, he had fought to break free from his restraints. The searing pain in his wrists as the rope cut into them was imperceptible due to the excruciating aching below his waist. Once enough blood had soaked into the rope enabling him to stretch it, he was able to easily slip his hands that were also coated with the crimson fluid free from the restraints. Then he had gone after her, searching each room and screaming her name at the top of his lungs in a blind rage. Hichigo had found her in her usual spot in the study, peacefully reading a book as if there was nothing unusual happening in the house. He had grabbed her by her hair which had grown out so that he was able to get quite a secure grasp on it. Dragging her to the hidden torture chamber he had created long ago in the basement of the house, he had chained her, lying on her abdomen, to a sturdy wooden table to exact his revenge with the intention of beating an apology out of her. She had screamed in her suffering until her throat was raw, cried gallons of tears until she begged for water, and bled until she had become faint but she refused to offer any kind of apology to him. Weak and on the verge of losing consciousness while her blood flowed so copiously it had begun to ooze off of flat surface she was lying on, she still obstinately rejected his demand for her to admit her wrongdoing and seek his forgiveness.

_"Why, Mina? Why?" Hichigo had asked her, showing signs of weariness. Sweat ran down his naked body mixing with the splatters of her blood. He struggled for air, completely winded due to beating her so aggressively. The whip hung limply from his hand while her blood that covered the tiny metal blades imbedded in the leather tips pooled on the uneven stones of the floor. "Why won't you just say you're sorry?"_

_Without lifting her head to look at him, her voice fragile and breathy, she answered,"Because I am not sorry for what I did to you. You're so quick to inflict pain on others without knowing how it feels yourself. You should learn the meaning of suffering so you will not be so hasty to impose it upon others."_

_Hichigo had roared loud and long to release his fury. Once again, she had caused strong, unfamiliar emotions to rise within him. He hated her for making him feel such things as sadness and remorse. So many times she had infuriated him to the point where he wanted to surrender to his anger and kill her. He wondered if she knew just how close to death she came on many occasions, especially this one. She had trifled with his body and his head in ways that he had never thought possible. _

Mina shivered from the memory of hearing his despondent screams which had served to unleash his despair as much as his anger. She was determined to break Hichigo, to make him see that he needed the other half of his personality. Ichigo, the master and dominant personality, was not there to tame him or destroy him but to keep the cruelty and murderous rage under control. His excessive tendencies were due to the nature of his birth, why he was created within Ichigo to begin with. As an extreme defense mechanism, he needed Ichigo's kindness and patience to temper his sadism and heartlessness. There were also lessons that Ichigo needed to learn having made that side of him to cope. He would have to acknowledge and earnestly embrace his dark side. He would have to admit the sometimes depraved desires and shocking brutality that lay within him. Her fingers glided through Ichigo's silky soft hair as she coaxed his lips closer to hers. The shy man had not touched her in a sexual manner, not even a kiss, since she had awakened him by taking advantage of his morning erection. Although she admired his sense of morality and his high standards of personal conduct, she could occasionally see the longing for her in his mahogany eyes when he would relax and lower his emotional walls. He wanted her, but he would not allow himself to act upon those desires.

"Mina," he whispered, his lips nearing hers. "I can't. Please...please don't tempt me."

"Ichigo, stop it," she snapped, grasping his face between her hands. "I'm not a child or some virginal maiden. You're not exactly innocent either so please don't pretend to be." She paused a moment in her scolding as his cheeks began to burn with a deep shade of red that was spreading across his entire face. She raked her fingers through his hair, pulling slightly until he grunted with discomfort. "Besides, you've had me dozens of times already."

"But it wasn't me. It wasn't me," he argued, putting up a somewhat impassive resistance to her lips that tried to harness his. He slowly moved his head from side to side in a lackluster attempt to avoid her kiss.

"Stop lying to yourself. Take me," she said, pressing her lips to his briefly. Excitement surged through her body from the limited but ardent contact of their mouths. Her stomach tumbled in limitless somersaults of arousal when his hand pressed against her abdomen and inched upward.

"I shouldn't. I won't," he mumbled as if arguing with himself. He groaned mournfully when her lips glided over his. It sounded as if he were losing ground in his pathetic determination to stay on the high moral road.

"Forget about all of that. You're a grown man with needs. Take what you need," she urged him, her hand moving down his chest as his hand continued sliding upward to her breasts. "What do you want?" Her fingers pressed against the lowest part of his hard abdomen to push under the elastic of his underwear. Her fingertips grazed his rigid member causing him to gasp from being startled. The groan he released in her ear told her that he was pleased with her touch. She kissed him tenderly, teasingly. A moan rose from her throat when his fingers curled to cup her firm breast. "What do you need?"

"Please...Mina, please," he begged, sounding helpless and somewhat fearful. His hips pushing upward toward her hand signaled that he wanted more, but she withdrew her hand slightly to avoid touching him again.

"Please, what? Tell me. Tell me what you want." Mina grasped his member, running her hand the full length of it. His manhood was warm and stiff in her palm. Her thumb moved over the smooth head wiping away the drop of fluid that had formed on the tip. Ceasing any movement of her hand, she felt him pulse and jerk in her palm.

"I-I w-want..." he stuttered, before allowing his words to trail off into a moan as she stroked him from base to tip.

"Say it," she ordered, yanking his manhood fiercely. Her body responded with a gush of moisture from arousal when he cried out with pleasure.

"I want to fuck you so hard that I make you cry," he growled through his teeth, ripping the sheet from her body.

At first Mina was so flabbergasted by his blunt statement that she could only stare at him with a round gaping mouth that matched her round blinking eyes. Once she recovered from being stupefied by his use of the f-word, she enclosed his neck with her arms to bring his face close to hers. "Then fuck me," she commanded him, smashing her lips to his. She enthusiastically mounted him when he rolled onto his back. He had taken her wounds into consideration when determining their position for sex. Always incredibly thoughtful, it did not surprise her that despite being overcome with lust, Ichigo had not forgotten about her injured back. His sweet, considerate nature was one of the things that made it difficult for her to not want to fall in love with him. She battled her feeble female heart everyday that she spent with him because it wanted to invite him in with no hesitation. She cried out his name in pleasure when he thrust his hips upward to skewer her body upon him. Her arms encircled his neck, cradling his head against her breast that he greedily suckled as she gyrated her body on top of his.

"Mina, you feel so good," Ichigo murmured, clamping one of his arms tightly around her waist. He held her down on him until she had no choice but to grind her way to an orgasm. His breathing increased to panting as her body contracted around him in a steady pulse of muscle contractions from climaxing. Fighting for control, he held her down on top of him until the urge to come subsided.

"Ichigo, for once in your life, please just lose control," she implored him, kissing him in a beseeching manner. "You must take me as you want me. You have to do what you said."

"What's that?" he asked, carefully pushing her over onto her side. He held one of her legs against his chest as he straddled her other leg in her sideways position.

"Fuck me until I cry," she reminded him, her body trembling with readiness as he pressed the head of his manhood to her opening. Her legs were spread open like a pair of scissors that were positioned vertically across his body. She looked up at the man who was hugging her thigh as he hesitated briefly to take her. _'Please, please, do not have second thoughts about this now,' _she pleaded in her mind.

"All right." With one forceful forward shove of his hips, he sank himself into her body until he was again buried to the hilt.

Mina cried out when he made contact with her cervix because he was so deeply imbedded inside of her. She had asked for it, and she was about to get it rough and rapid. Her fingers clenched and unclenched in the pillow she held to her body as he banged into her cervix again and again. A smirk of self-satisfied delight curled her lips as he gave in to his sexual desire and thrust into her so ferociously it brought tears to her eyes. She bit her lower lip to keep from crying out in pain because she did not want him to stop. The tears continue to build until they escaped her tightly closed eyes and ran down her cheeks. Well, well, mission accomplished.

"Mina, Mina," he chanted as his pleasure rose higher and higher, bringing him closer to the peak where a devastating orgasm awaited.

"Ichigo, please, please, come...NOW!" she screamed when she became afraid her body could not take much more. Her body unexpectedly climaxed in a sudden surge of ecstasy that left her breathless and bawling as she pointlessly attempted to regain control of her senses.

With a short yell, Ichigo let go as she had commanded, surrendering himself to the ultimate bliss. He thrust into her with each successive spurt that accompanied another wave of pleasure which surged through his body. Once he was finally able to stop moving from the ongoing throes of the orgasm, he lay down beside her to take her into his arms. He was careful not to hurt her back as he held her. Turning her face up to him with a forefinger under her chin, he kissed away what remained of the tears she had shed.

"Did I hurt you? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he apologized profusely without waiting for her to answer. It was so infuriatingly like him to assume he had injured her and want to make amends. Any further apologies were cut off by her lips covering his. His body relaxed as she kissed him at great length, allowing the leisurely, comforting kiss to continue until he was assured that he had nothing to be sorry for.

"You were amazing," she whispered, giving him another peck on the lips. "I lo-" She clamped her lips shut so she would not say another word. Oh, god! What had she been about to say? She almost made a life changing admission that she would not have been able to take back. She gulped audibly, choking back the rest of the words before they came flying out of her mouth. "I look forward to doing that again soon."

"Me too," he told her, settling his head between her breasts. Before long, the hypnotic cadence of her heartbeat put him to sleep.

Mina ran her fingers through his hair, kissing the top of his head. The fuzzy flyaway hairs tickled her nose, and she giggled lightly to herself. Pressing the back of her hand to her forehead, she closed her stinging eyes to think about what she had almost done. What if she had said those three little words to Ichigo? That could have very well destroyed her desire to bring peace and unity to the man with the dual personality. She had constantly stayed on her guard trying not separate them or view them as two different men. Although they might as well be two completely separate individuals, they weren't. She vowed to herself that she would be more vigilant in the future to keep a tighter rein on her emotions.

~\'/~

Winter had succumbed to the Spring. The snow had melted to reveal the tender green shoots of grass that had been waiting to burst forth from the ground. Everything green had begun to grown. There was no rhyme or reason to the gardens of the manor, as if the gardener had just thrown out seeds to grow where they may. The flowers sent up tiny buds to open and dot the landscape with beautiful color. Ducks had flown in to claim a home near the small pond that sat in the middle of the back of the manor grounds.

Mina's new favorite place was the gazebo that sat in the middle of the pond. She would walk across the small wooden pier painted white that led to the round structure where she would sit and watch the ducks glide across the water or watch the sun set in the evenings. On a few sleepless nights, she would come to watch the sun rise. She would sit in the swing hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the gazebo, wearing the gray wool kimono to ward off the chill. The kimono that Hichigo had wrapped her in the first night she had appeared at the mansion had become hers. It had been a source of warmth all winter when she would read her books in the study or whenever she did not feel like getting dressed and it was too cold to roam through the big house naked. In the early morning, she would bundle up in the thick garment, sometimes over her night gown, sometimes not, before tiptoeing to her special place. This morning she had chosen to curl up on the cushioned bench in the gazebo rather than swaying gently in the swing. She had left Hichigo sleeping in the bed. Sometimes the duality of his personality could be frustrating and downright creepy. She never knew who she would wake up with and, depending on his emotional state, he could change in a moments notice. Thankfully, he had never done anything as weird as shifting forms in the middle of sex. That would be just far too strange even for her - and strange had been a part of her life for quite a while now. She held the garment together from the inside beneath her chin as she shivered in the cool morning air. Mist rose from the surface of the pond that was still devoid of its feathered inhabitants so early in the day.

Things around the manor had been tranquil as of late. It was almost frightening. Hichigo had not gone on any violent rampages or thrown any fiery tantrums for whatever reason. Ichigo had become even more quiet and introspective which had bothered her. He seemed to be avoiding her, but when he was with her he acted differently toward her than he had before. Rather than tolerating her presence with a stony silence, he had become affectionate, speaking to her in volumes without using words. For no reason he would reach to take her hand in his and just hold it until one of them had to move. He would offer her kisses on her forehead or cheek when he walked past in her random places in the house. It seemed to please him to go with her for afternoon walks around the garden before she would retreat to the gazebo to watch the sunset. Even Hichigo had grown more devoted and caring which could sometimes be so out of character for him it terrified her instead of having the effect he had intended. She would immediately feel regretful for reacting in such a negative way to a gesture he had meant to be loving. For instance, if he raised his hand suddenly to pat her head or caress her cheek, she would flinch and raise her arm defensively to protect herself. Usually he would give her an apologetic, sad smile before he would turn to walk away to leave her stewing in her shame. He would sometimes join her on the afternoon strolls before leaving her to her daily routine of enjoying the end of the day from the gazebo. It seemed to be an unspoken rule between all of them that the gazebo was _her _place, her retreat and sanctuary where neither one of them were allowed to trespass.

Mina opened her eyes, startled that she had almost dozed off. A tremor ran through her body and she found herself wishing she had stayed in the warm bed tucked cozily in Hichigo's embrace. But so many thoughts had been running through her head. For hours she had laid awake staring into the darkness. Musings of what her life had become had bombarded her brain, and she tried to make sense of it all. Finally she had come to the conclusion that she could not make sense of a nonsensical situation so she gave up trying to do so. She had gotten out of the bed in annoyance, letting go of the hope that she would get any sleep at all. It would be better to greet the day than to lay in bed feeling baffled and disgruntled. So here she sat, cold and fretful, but at least the brilliant pinks and golds that were coloring the anemic blue sky of early morning were pretty and almost inspiring to see.

"Mina," that bizarre watery voice she had come to cherish called to her.

Mina nearly jumped out of her skin from the sudden and unexpected intrusion into her quiet world. She turned her head to see Hichigo standing at the edge of the pond near the end of the bridge to the gazebo. A smile lifted the corners of her mouth to see him standing there like a shy little boy with his hands behind his back while he stared at his feet. "Well, what is it?" she asked when he did not say anything.

"I need to talk to you," he said without moving or looking up at her.

"Oh, for god's sake, then come out here," she ordered grumpily. Although she enjoyed her time alone in the gazebo, it wasn't sacred ground and they could come out to it if the liked. When he came near her, she grabbed his hand and pulled him down onto the cushion beside her. He was being unusually and stunningly submissive. It was scaring the hell out of her. She waited for him to speak or to look at her. When he did neither, she put her finger under his chin to lift it so she could see his golden eyes. Looking into them, they were shockingly devoid of emotion but not in the scary, mindless way as if he were about to commit a horrendous act. The expression held there exhibited a calm sense of nothingness, a plain lack of emotion whether they be good or bad. "Hichigo, you're really beginning to frighten me. What's wrong?"

"Ichigo and I have been talking," he said quite seriously, pulling her hand away to hold it in his.

"What is that like?" she inquired, her curiosity getting the better of her. She often pondered what it was like to be him, to have two complete and separate personalities. Obviously they were aware of each other so how did they handle occupying the same mind?

"Well..." He released her hand, sinking into the thick, pillowy back of the bench that was like an outdoor couch. He stretched his arms out to lay them over the top of the couch, resting his hand on her shoulder that was pressed against the back. "It's kind of like talking to yourself in your mind. You know how sometimes you'll think about things and kind of debate with yourself, as if there's two separate voices in your head?"

Mina nodded enthusiastically. She knew exactly what that was like. As a matter of fact, she had recently done that for many sleepless hours while trying to sort out her present circumstances. Since she had distracted him from what he had come to talk to her about, she brought him back around to his point with a question. "So what had you two been discussing?"

"You," he answered pointedly. He gave her a flirtatious smile, tickling her under the chin with his forefinger as if she were a cute child not a grown woman.

Mina pushed his hand away, frowning deeply because she felt insulted by his demeaning behavior. "What about me?"

"We were debating on if we should keep you or send you away," he replied curtly without looking at her.

"So I'm a pet now?" she growled, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away from him.

"Would you just shut up and listen?" he snapped, resisting the urge to throttle her. By withholding sexual favors from him, she had taught him a difficult but necessary lesson in restraint.

Mina bit her lower lip to physically repress any further outbursts. Presently, she seemed to be the only one having issues with controlling herself, particularly her mouth and emotions. She scooted closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder. Looking out over the pond, she watched as the brown mother duck dropped into the water from the grassy edge with her four fluffy yellow ducklings following behind her. A smile once again found a place on her face.

"I could have phrased that statement a little better I suppose," Hichigo admitted, laying his hand on her knees that were pulled up onto the seat beside him. "We want you to stay with us."

"Forever?" She edged closer to tuck her head in the hollow between his neck and shoulder.

"If that's how long you want to stay," he rejoined, patting her knee.

"You're not forcing me to stay? No tying me to a wall? No physical intimidation?" She stood up, walking to the side of the gazebo opposite from him to keep her back to him. "Ichigo won't try to carry me away again will he? I won't be forced to leave at some time in the future will I?"

"You're free to make your own choice." He stared at her back while patiently awaiting a response. He had not noticed until this moment that her hair had grown long enough to form numerous curls at the nape of her neck. Occasionally she would pin back the front of her hair allowing an unobstructed view of her face. He and Ichigo both were greatly pleased that she trusted them enough to allow such vulnerability to emerge.

This decision should be an easy one, but she found herself facing another dilemma. Should she leave to seek a normal life? What constituted normal? Reaching upwards to touch her face, she traced the deep scars with her fingers. Perhaps there was no hope of ever finding normal again. Sighing noisily, she tried to bring some kind of order to her thoughts. Not too long ago, she had reached a shocking an irreversible decision. She loved them. She loved them both deeply and wholly but for completely different reasons. The only factor that made her complicated ordeal of loving two men easier is that they were actually the same man. He had just chosen to bisect his opposing personalities, allowing them to manifest as individual men. Recently, she had lost her desire to mold them into one human being. They seemed to operate just fine in their separate capacities anyway. Who did she think she was to think she could 'fix' them or that it was her job to do so?

"Mina?" This time the voice that called out to her was Ichigo's.

Mina slowly turned to see the orange haired man with the gorgeously tanned skin sitting there in place of his pale double. A strong tremor shook her to her core physically and emotionally. She was quite sure she would never grow accustomed to those swift and unpredictable transformations. Boredom would not be a problem in this relationship.

"Did he ask you?" Ichigo inquired when her eyes met his.

"Yes." She did not offer any further information mostly because her emotions were in such turmoil it was becoming challenging to think either rationally or irrationally.

"What is your decision?" Ichigo anxiously chewed his lower lip. He would admit he had been a wimp and left the task of asking the crucial question to the bolder and more candid half of his personality.

Mina blinked back the tears that stung the back of her eyeballs and filled her tear ducts. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she prepared to give him her answer. She held her breath when he stood to walk toward her. This decision would alter the course of the rest of her life, and the life of the man standing before her. Gazing into his dark cocoa colored eyes, she opened her mouth to speak. "I want to stay. I want to be with you...both of you."

Ichigo graced her with a rare gift: he smiled. The corners of his delectable pink lips turned upward while genuine happiness flooded his eyes until they shone. In another unique display that showcased his new found aggressiveness, he clasped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her forward to kiss her lips. The kiss was not meek or bashful. He kissed her with an ardent fervor that conveyed his current passionate emotions to leave her weak and breathless in his arms. He held her body tightly in his arms as she yielded herself to him.

"I'll take care of you," he promised her, kissing her cheek lightly before embracing her. "I'll make you happy."

"You already do make me happy."

"There's one more thing you need to know." His eyes gazed into hers ardently before he spoke. "I love you."

Mina dropped her eyes, unable to hold his gaze. She clutched the lapels of his yukata that was the same light blue color of the sky just after dawn. "I love you too. Both of you."

~The End~


End file.
